Amazon Fire TV streaming devices are a great choice for those in the market for a budget streamer, and Prime Day 2021 may well be the best time to do it.
Amazon Prime Day (landing June 21-22 this year) is a time when the online retailer slashes prices across vast swathes of its product stock: everything from the best TVs and streaming sticks to home appliances and vacuums. But the company's own ranges of Amazon-branded products are often pushed the hardest in the sales.
It makes sense for Amazon to highlight the first-party products it has the biggest margins on, and it certainly helps that the Fire TV range is full of some great streamers.
The first Fire TV streamers were launched as far back as 2014, and Amazon has had a sizeable presence in the streaming hardware market ever since. You won't get the mid-sized Fire TV streamer anymore, but there is a host of streaming sticks as well as a more decked-out Fire TV Cube option for those with the cash for it – all of which we'll run you through below.
Budget sticks and fancy cubes
Streaming sticks are a quick and affordable solution for those with a smart TV with a basic interface and limited app support – or even those still holding on to a 'dumb' TV without smart capabilities at all. All you need is an HDMI port to plug a streamer into, and you can get started.
The cheapest option is the Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite, which launched in 2020. This basic streaming stick only offers Full HD streaming, though it does pack in HDR support and 60fps playback for smooth motion and rich color (provided you have a TV capable of those formats). You won't, however, get volume or TV controls on the Alexa voice remote, meaning you'll have to juggle it alongside your TV remote.
The best thing about the Fire TV Stick Lite, though, is the price. It costs $29.99 / £29.99 / AU$59.99 for most of the year, though sales could see it knocked down even further. We've seen the Lite discounted to just $19.99 in the US – making for a third off – and similar prices are possible in other regions.
It's a short uptick in price for the Fire TV Stick (2020), a slightly more specified Full HD model that retails at $39.99 / £39.99 / AU$79. The model is broadly similar to the Lite, but packs in Dolby Atmos audio capability (again, if your TV or surround sound system supports it) as well as including AV and volume controls on the Alexa voice remote.
If you're after 4K HDR streaming, though, you'll want the Fire TV Stick 4K, an identically-looking streaming stick that supports Ultra HD resolution. That brings the cost up to $49.99 / £49.99 / AU$99 – though we've seen that figure drop by 20% before, to just $39 in the US.
It's very likely we'll see discounts across all three of these streaming sticks, meaning you can get the Fire TV Stick (2020) for the price of the Lite, and the Fire TV Stick 4K for the price of the step-down Full HD model – so it's well worth your while keeping an eye on the sales.
Of course, if you have the cash on a high-end streaming device like the Apple TV 4K 2021 or Nvidia Shield TV Pro, Amazon has its own alternative for you to consider: the Fire TV Cube.
The Fire TV Cube is a curious invention, one that melds the streaming smarts of a Fire TV Stick with the audio capabilities of an Amazon Echo speaker. It can act as an AV control center, and means you won't need a separate smart speaker in your living room (if that's something you were considering). It currently retails for $119.99 / £109.99 (around AU$160), though we've seen that figure cut to just $99.99 in the US and £69.99 in the UK, meaning big savings are possible.
Of course, given it's been two years since a Fire TV Cube model launched, the hardware is possibly due a refresh, and it might be worth waiting for Amazon to do so – though there's no telling when that could happen, or if it'll see a new lease of life at all.
If you want to make the most of the savings in this year's Prime Day deals, then it's worth deciding which streamer takes your fancy – and you can always opt for a budget streaming stick like the Fire TV Stick Lite if you're only looking for a temporary measure before Amazon brings out a new iteration of the Cube.
Can't wait until Prime Day, or don't need an extra saving? Check out the best deals on Fire TV streamers in your region below:
TechRadar is rounding up all the top deals in the run up to the Amazon Prime Day 2021 sales period, and we’ve put together a hub of all the Amazon Prime Day 2021 news you'll need to prepare yourself for the discount period.
- Discover today's best Fire TV Stick VPN
